VietNamNet Bridge - The posts of chair or general director of large state-owned conglomerates such as oil and gas, electricity, mining, shipbuilding and shipping are very powerful. However, the positions have led many businessmen to prison.

The public in recent years has heard about the disciplining, dismissal and international search for many former presidents and CEOs of SOEs (state owned enterprises) for their wrongdoings committed during their tenure.

Most recently, the Central Inspection Committee proposed to discipline a number of current and retired managers of Vinachem, a state-owned chemical conglomerate, for wrongdoings during the implementation of multi-trillion dong projects.

The list of SOE former managers being prosecuted now includes the names of Trinh Xuan Thanh and Vu Duc Thuan from PVC, Vu Dinh Duy and Tran Trung Chi Hieu from PVTex. Of these, Thanh gave himself up to the police after one year of running away.

Prior to that, many ‘big bosses’ had to stand before the bar in the courts for their wrongdoings which shook the state-owned conglomerates. 

In early 2012, the Ministry of Public Security filed a lawsuit on charges of deliberately violating state regulations on economic management, causing serious consequences, which happened in Vinalines, the national shipping firm. The prosecuted businessmen included Duong Chi Dung, former chair of Vinalines.

At the appeal hearing in May 2014, the court sentenced Dung to death.

Two years before, Pham Thanh Binh, former chair of Vinashin, was prosecuted for serious wrongdoings in management, which placed the conglomerate on the verge of bankruptcy.

Because of wrong investment decisions, especially investments in non-core business fields, Vinashin, which was once the country’s leading shipbuilder, became bogged down in difficulties. For this, Binh was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment.

The VIP who was prosecuted in May 2017 was Phi Thai Binh, former chair of Vinaconex, and former vice mayor of Hanoi. He had to take joint responsibility in the Song Da water pipeline project. The low quality pipeline has broken 20 times since it became operational.

Binh could not make a ‘soft landing’: he was prosecuted 10 years after leaving Vinaconex (July 2006) to take the post of Hanoi’s vice mayor and one year after retirement.

Several other SOE managers were also disciplined and dismissed from their posts, including Dao Van Hung, former chair of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) (2012), and Doan Van Kien, former chair of Vinacomin (2009).

Do Duc Dinh, chair of the Vietnam Center for Socio-Economic Research, noted that many SOE leaders have been prosecuted recently, which never happened in the past.

Ngo Minh Hai, deputy chair of SOE Club, said the prosecution against many SOE leaders is ‘unprecedented’.

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